Half Blooded Love
by McShizzle350
Summary: When Luke goes abroad and leaves his girlfriend Annabeth alone, her first plan of action is to get another roommate to help pay rent. However, things start to get complicated when her roommate of choice turns out to be her old best friend from school, Percy Jackson. But when her feelings for him begin to grow, another figure enters the picture, and what follows is a crazy story. AU
1. Luke and Los Angeles

Hi. My name is Annabeth Chase. I'm twenty-two years old. This is the story of how I and my boyfriend, Luke Castellan, had our normal lives ripped away from us by job transfers, love, and two people.

I hope you feel bad for me after reading this as well.

* * *

I was sitting in the main hall of my apartment, laughing as I watched a "Friends" episode. Ah, that show will never get old. I was sitting there, watching the television intently, trying (and failing) at trying to eat my ice cream with a spoon from a bowl, when my phone rang.

I balanced my bowl on my lap, and then looked at my phone. I smiled. It was Luke Castellan, my awesome boyfriend. He worked as a lawyer, and not to brag, but he is pretty good. That's actually how we met. This jerk called Track- no, Travis- stole my purse, and luckily the police caught him. I was that close to getting him in jail. Then he asked for his lawyer, who happened to be Luke.

Now, Luke wanted me to drop charges, and he would pay me an amount. I'll admit I was tempted, but on the other hand, I didn't want that a-hole Travis going away without a parting gift, now, did I? I told Luke that we'd take it to court if we had to. And we did. My lawyer and friend, Piper McLean is good, but she was no match for Luke, who explained about Travis's "troubled childhood" and "lack of a good role model", which I still think is some total bulls**t.

As we were leaving the courtroom, my mind was swirling with thoughts like, _Damn, that thief got away easy!_ _But that lawyer, though. He's good! Not to mention hot!_ Luke suddenly came up to me and said he hoped there were no hard feelings between us and asked me for my number. And what did I do? I gave it to him. Who could resist him? Certainly not this girl.

We went on a few dates and got to know each other before we started a more serious relationship. Luke moved into my apartment around a year ago. Since then, we've been in a solid relationship.

I answered the phone, and Luke's voice rang out.

'Hey, Annie,' he said. I actually hate that nickname, but I let Luke get away with it.

'Hey, Luke,' I said. Sorry if you expected "honey" or "babe", but we had both agreed pretty early on that nothing of that sort would be exchanged between us.

'So, as I just won the case I was working on, I've decided to take you out for dinner. So, where do you wanna go?'

That got me thinking. Where to go? Finally I said, 'Gramercy Tavern?'

I heard a sigh, and he started with the usual, 'Oh, but Annabeth, that place is such a pain to get a reservation in-' I cut him off with a please and more begging.

After a while, he finally said, 'Okay, get dressed, I'll be there in a minute,' before ending the call.

I ran into my bedroom and quickly changed out of my casual T-shirt and shorts into a pair of blue-black jeans and a checkered shirt.

I walked back into my hall, and had a look around to see if anything is out of place. It was a rare apartment which I'd gone through hell to get. Why did I have to go through hell to get it, you ask? It looked exactly like the apartment in the T.V show "Friends". You could have said I was a little bit obsessed.

Once through the door, to the left, there was a little kitchen, opposite which there was the T.V and two sofas. To the right and left of the T.V, there were two rooms. The one on the left was originally mine, at least until Luke moved in. Opposite my room, there was the bathroom. In between my room and the bathroom, there was the balcony. Opposite the balcony, there was nothing much, just another bathroom and a room that the owner told me not to open, though I'm not sure why.

I was just done with washing my bowl of ice cream in the sink when Luke walked into the apartment.

'Hey, Annie,' he said and immediately went and fell on the couch, suit in disarray and hair tousled. I sighed.

'What about dinner?' I asked menacingly, crossing my arms above my chest, head tilted. This was what Luke called my "convincing stance".

'Oh… um, I couldn't get a reservation for tonight, but, um, maybe we could go for a movie?' he suggested, every bit the nervous boyfriend faced with his very scary girlfriend.

I sat down beside him, trying not to let my disappointment show. 'Okay. But which movie?' His smirk did not reassure me.

'I was thinking…'

* * *

We stormed out of the cinema hall, laughing our heads off.

'That… was… hilarious!' I managed, trying to catch my breath from too much laughing.

Luke wasn't faring that well with the not-laughing-head-off thing. In fact, he seemed more winded than me.

'That is the first movie ever that managed to gross me out while making me laugh,' he said. 'I didn't know R-rated movies could be this funny!'

Once we managed to get in the car, we drove home, arguing about which one is better: rock and roll or rap. In case you're wondering, I'm for rock.

'"Light 'Em Up"!' I argued with Luke.

'"The Real Slim Shady" is much better,' he shot back.

'Granted, but what about "The Phoenix"?'

'You've got me there, but "Rap God"!'

'Oh, please! Eminem can do better! That song has no substance, just someone blabbering super-fast.'

'Fine, then. "Love The Way You Lie"?'

'"Centuries",' I stated as we pulled up at our building.

We continued arguing all the way up to our third floor apartment. I opened the apartment and as soon as I switched on the lights, about a dozen people jumped out from the bathrooms, bedrooms and behind the couch.

'Happy birthday, Annabeth!' they screamed. Luke came over and put an arm around my waist.

'Surprised?' he questioned, and I tried to ignore the fact that he knows I hate surprises, yet did this. They seriously get on my nerves.

I looked around the room, and saw some people I loved. I saw Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Katie Gardner, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, all smiling up at me. I smiled back, trying to remind myself that I'm not gonna meet him again, even by chance.

Okay, I should probably back up. See, when I was around twelve, I had a neighbor in New York. His name was Percy Jackson. We were best friends. I moved away to San Francisco when I was fourteen, and by the time I came back to New York three years later, he'd moved away as well.

I've never seen him since, and there's always been a corner of my heart hoping to see him. After all, he is a long lost friend.

The guys rolled in a cake on a tray. It said "Happy Birthday, Annabeth the Smart-Ass!"

I didn't make that big a deal of it. I cut it, and within minutes, we were crowded around the T.V, paper disposable plates in our hands filled with cake. We each had a glass of wine, waiting for Luke to put in the disc for our scary movie.

Soon enough, the lights were gone, and we were all huddled together, and within minutes we were screaming. I mean, there's a limit to how much you scare a person! Come on, James Wan!

Anyway, after the watching one of the scariest horror movies I've ever seen, everyone started to leave. As they left, they handed me their gifts. Most were books, and some others were merchandise, like a Yankees cap. Everyone knew I was a hard core fan of the Yankees.

'Bye, Annie. Bye, Luke,' they said as they left. Thalia, as usual, didn't settle for a simple good-bye and said, 'Bye, guys. And get to the naughty stuff tomorrow. It is pretty late,' and ran before I could catch her.

Luke shook his head. 'Why do you even try to fix Thalia's head? You know she's nuts,' he said, then seeing my face, added, 'In a good way!' and smiled.

I thought back to when Luke and Thalia first met. When I started dating Luke, Thalia was desperate to meet the new guy to give him the "Best Friend's Seal of Approval" (Yes, that's a real thing), and when they saw each other, they had looked pretty stunned. From what I could gather, they'd dated back in college.

Of course, that was history. They were good friends now.

After the last person left, I closed the door and immediately leaned my back on it, exhausted. Luke stood there for a while, bearing a look I had never seen on his face before. What was it? It was doubt, which confused me, because Luke was a pretty confident guy.

'What's wrong?' I asked, and he immediately switched to his usual smile. Once again, I began to wonder, what was Luke hiding?

'Nothing,' he said, which didn't exactly reassure me. He pulled me up from the couch and dragged me into the room.

'So,' he began, once we were inside, 'I have something to tell you.'

I frowned. People usually don't say that unless it is bad news and they're trying to prolong saying it to you. Nevertheless, I said, 'Sure, go ahead.'

He said it in one quick sentence. 'I have a business opportunity in L.A., and I'll be gone for almost a year.'

At first, I thought, "This is bad news?"

'Well, that's great! When are we leaving?' I said, genuinely excited.

He looked up and said the bad part. 'That's the thing. My company's been cheated out of some money in a case unfairly, and they're currently having financial troubles. This is a gold mine case, and I'm one of their best, so they're asking me to go. I was so excited I didn't think twice. I said yes. Later, when they gave me the tickets, there was only one. I asked them about you and they said that I have to go alone and that I'd already said yes, and if I backed out now, I'm fired.'

I thought that the bad news was that he got fired. Nope. He was going. For a whole year.

I was naturally depressed, but I tried not to show it. 'Well, you better get back packing. When's your flight?'

'Tomorrow morning,' he said, holding his head low. I shook my head, went over and said, 'Hey, I'm going to be fine. Now, you should worry about yourself. Get packing.'

He looked at me, a slight smile tugging at his lips. 'Yet you wonder how I fell in love with you?' he said, and I smiled back, trying to hide my sadness.

* * *

When I woke up, I saw that Luke was already dressed in a gray suit and a blue-black striped tie, and was talking to someone on the phone urgently in the living room. I yawned and padded into the kitchen, fixing myself a bowl of cereal.

'Good morning,' I said. He turned to look at me, smiled, and then went back to his call.

I waited until he was done before asking, 'When's your plane?'

He looked at his watch, and said, 'About two hours.'

That was the moment I decided to speak out. 'Can't you stay here?'

Luke gave me an apologetic look, and said a line I can't say I didn't expect. 'You know I have to, Annie.'

I nodded my head in understanding.

After I showered and put on some dark blue jeans and a, I helped Luke with his bag and put it in the car.

We drove to the airport, listening to our favorite songs, like "Closer" and "Beat It", but we didn't sing along. We sat in almost perfect silence.

When we reached the airport, I tagged along up until the terminal.

Luke turned around and faced me. 'So, this is it, I guess. See you in a year?' I said. He didn't say anything. He just pulled me close and hugged me.

'See you in a year,' he agreed. He turned and walked away. I don't know how long I stood there, watching Luke walk away, but it must've been a long time, because an elderly woman came up to me and asked, 'Everything all right, dear?'

I turned to look at her, smiled, and said, 'It's nothing. Thanks for asking. Uh, bye,' I said, and walked away. I could feel her eyes on me, filled with curiosity as to why I was so sad.

I managed to keep a straight and emotionless face all the way to the car. There, I cried. I continued to cry until the tears absolutely refused to come out.

I drove home and sat around, moping. It was Sunday, so university classes. I expected a couple of kids over soon, as I was tutoring some of the kids in my building for some extra money. Also, I liked teaching and learning.

Anyway, since they were coming over, I had to look presentable. I'm not into fashion; I just think I should look a little nice, not like I'd just had a binge crying session. Though I did.

I went to the washroom and spent a good amount of time washing my face. As I did, I thought about random things, like how Luke and the others never understood why I go to architecture school, because I'd once given in a lot of ideas to my mother, Athena, during the renovation of the multi-million-dollar company she worked in, Olympus. I, on the other hand, thought that there was much more to learn, and always tried to learn more.

When I came out of the washroom, it was 11:30. I pushed the couch to a side and set up five foldable tables. At around 12:00, some kids started coming into the apartment.

'Hey, Ms. Chase,' they said as they sat down. I smiled at them, then immediately looked at the troublemaker of the group, Dave, and held out my hand, saying, 'Homework. Now.'

* * *

After an hour of teaching multiple different subjects to five kids who simply refused to understand something as simple as algebra, I fell on my couch, exhausted. The room fell into a kind of peaceful quiet, when, suddenly, the sound of my phone screaming, "I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Starboy" interrupted.

I ran to pick up my phone, excusing myself. I looked at the contact and then saw "Luke". I ignored the call and set it back down. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him.

That night, I slept peacefully. I took up the whole bed, let myself drool, and acted like no one was watching (because no one was). I felt…happy.

Don't get me wrong, I missed Luke. A lot. But I wished that he'd told me that he was going earlier. I could've gone with him, or at least tried. Now, I had no chance of going to L.A., because I didn't save any money, plan ahead, nothing. I was pretty mad at Luke, but I can never really hate him, not completely. After all, he is my boyfriend.

~One Month Later~

As I sat eating my bacon in the morning, I sighed, trying to get my mind off Luke. He was gone. He was gone for a whole year. I needed something to do, a job to earn extra money to pay the rent. But, I'm already struggling with architecture school and tuitions. I needed a roommate.

Just then, Piper burst in to my house, fuming.

'Hey, Pipes, glad you learned to knock,' I said as she flopped onto the couch.

'Hey. So, you remember that case for a divorce, with some Gabe as our defendant? Oh, my god, that guy is nuts! As I questioned him, he finally agreed, then asked me why I cared if he hit his wife. He's hitting her, for God's sake! I wanted to punch him then and there, but Thalia and her Hunters of Artie-'

'Artemis,' I corrected her.

'-group did the dirty work outside the court after we won the case.'

'What was your client's name, again?'

'Sally Jackson. Oh my god, she has a son, about a year older than me, and he is so hot!'

I shook my head, saying, 'Seriously? How many guys are hot for you, exactly?'

She rolled her eyes at me, defending herself, 'Hey, what's wrong with me thinking a guy's hot?'

'You tried to make a move on Leo!'

'And it worked, didn't it?'

'It could've ruined your friendship,' I said, and she shut up for a while, but my victory was short-lived, 'cause she just continued, 'Anyway, the hottie apparently needs a place to stay, so I said I'll check with you.'

I thought it over, and I didn't see any problem with the idea. After a long think-over, I decided, 'Okay. Gimme his number,' I said, and she started rattling off numbers, which I dialed into my BlackBerry. I called the number, and a guy picked up.

'Hello?' a voice came.

'Uh, hi. You're a… friend of Piper McLean's, right?' Bad way to start a conversation.

'Uh, yeah, I know her. What are you calling about?'

'Oh, I'm the one Piper mentioned. You know, about the room.'

'Oh, right! Um, what's your name?'

'I'm Annabeth Chase,' I said, and I heard a fumbling sound like he'd almost dropped the phone.

When he put it to his lips again, his voice was but a whisper.

'Annabeth?'

'Uh, yeah?' I said, confused.

'Do you remember me?'

I frowned, wondering how he knew me.

'Uh, I'm not sure. What's your name?'

'My name's Percy Jackson.'

* * *

 **There. I'll update only after a while, because my other story is in desperate need of updates. Anyway, leave a review! Constructive criticism is appreciated. If you like the story and want more, follow and favourite. I'm only rambling right now to increase the word count.**

 **Also, before I forget, beta-ed (does that word exist?) by the amazing Silverfyre16. Do check out her stories, she is just awesome.**


	2. Gabe and the Courtroom

**Sup people! McShizzle here. To the reviewers, thank you so much! It means a lot! Do keep it up and review this chapter as well!**

 **And, I know a lot of the things in this chapter are false. If they are, by some miracle, correct, then hurray! Otherwise, just go with it.**

 **Percy**

I was walking home after a memorable swim practice, my body still a little wet, my jeans and T-shirt sticking to me a bit. I regretted not taking my coat. It was the middle of December. Poseidon – Dad – said that if I continued like this, I'd end up in the Olympics.

My dad wasn't walking home with me. Why? My mom and him had me and then separated because he had to focus on his career – sailing, whereas Mom just wanted to stay home, take care of me, and go to work. So, they separated with no hard feelings in between them. In fact, I doubt they still did have feelings for each other.

I reached home after a while. I looked up at the five storey brown building in front of me. Mine was on the third floor, the third one to the right, the one with the fire exit attached to it. I usually climbed up the fire exit up to the top of the roof to enjoy some fresh air before coming down and entering through the window into our apartment. Today, though, I didn't feel like it.

I marched straight up to the third floor, taking the stairs two at a time. I reached the top and pushed the window up and came in, the stench of smoke hardly bothering me. I'd gotten years of practice.

It didn't look like Gabe Ugliano - my bitch step-father - was home. Probably went out to buy some more liquor.

I called Mom.

' _Sally here,_ ' rang out her voice.

'Hey mom,' I said, and I swear I could feel her smile all the way from the other side.

' _Percy! Where are you?_ '

'I'm home,' I told her.

' _Oh. Well, I'll be home in ten minutes. Can't leave you alone with Gabe._ '

'Mom, stay and work. We need the money. Also, Gabe isn't home, and I can deal with him even if he was. Oh, and by the way, I asked Dad if I could start coaching, and he said that I could take the morning classes. Things are starting to look up.'

I heard a sigh, followed by, ' _Okay, fine._ '

'Bye. Love you,' I said.

' _Bye hon,_ ' she said, before cutting the line. I then took a look around my apartment. It looked as it had for the past few years of my life. The main hall held a poker table where Smelly Gabe and his stupid goons played and drank beer all day, and a TV.

I went over to the kitchen, which was on the right side of the hallway opposite to the window, to get something to eat. I got a plate of cookies and an apple, then went into my room and got my laptop and sat down at my desk.

I was getting a piece of paper from my drawer, when a picture fell out. I picked it up, and smiled. It was from when I was 12 years old, with my best friend at that time, Annabeth Chase. She'd moved to San Francisco and right before her scheduled arrival two years later, when we were supposed to have fun since we were seeing each other again after two years. I hadn't seen her since.

I knocked myself out of the nostalgic moment into the present. I opened my e-mail to find a few messages from Grover. I checked it out, and it said that they were at Le Parker Meridien and were waiting for me. I checked the time it was sent. 6:00 pm.

I looked at my watch. 6:30 pm. I grabbed my coat, the car keys, and ran out of the apartment. I was just getting into my car, when I saw Gabe coming over.

'Where are you taking the car, punk?' he said, his voice gruff, his breath reeking of beer as he came up to me.

'I'm going to see some friends,' I replied, unflinching. I'd never had fear towards him, just hate. Now was no different.

He grinned, his teeth yellow from not brushing and whatever the hell else he's doing. 'Well,' he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm, 'I hope that blonde girl from ten years ago is gonna be there. Man, her cheeks were so fluffy, I couldn't stop myself from slapping the shit out of it.'

I'd never snapped. I had been worried for my mom. She was the one who'd get the punishment. I'd learned to control. But, in that moment, when he teased me about a friend from my childhood who I missed every day, passed through my mind every day, who he hit when she tried to defend me, who might not even be _alive_ , I snapped.

I grabbed him by the collar, pushing him up against the car. I began to punch him. One, two, three, I lost count. My anger, my worry, my troubles, all of them came pouring out in a powerful rush. I stopped to catch my breath, and was faced with an even uglier and bruised up Gabe.

'Listen, you little sack of crap. The only reason you're alive is because of me and my mom. The only reason you're not begging on the streets like you were born to do is because of us. We brought you into our house. We let you live. But guess what? That. Stops. Now.'

I shoved him to the ground, where he lay, battered and bruised. I began to kick him, right on his head. It hit the grey and cracked pavement. When I finally stopped, his head was bleeding, his eyes closed. He probably lost consciousness, I thought.

For a moment, I thought about taking him back inside and washing his face and giving him some first aid. But then I came to senses. I looked at my watch. It said 6:40 pm. I called up Frank.

' _Hey, where are you? We're almost done with our food-_ '

'Frank,' I said, cutting her off, 'I need you guys to come to my house. Quick.'

' _Uh, okay? What's going o-_ ' I cut him off again, disconnecting the line.

Ten minutes later, they had arrived in Jason's car. Jason, Reyna, Nico, Frank and Hazel immediately saw Gabe's body, and his disgusting existence was met with a gag from Hazel, a 'Finally!' from Reyna and Nico, and a casual 'What'd he do?' from Jason.

Frank came over and checked his pulse. 'I can barely feel it. We've got to get him to a hospital.'

'Yeah, but don't you think we should beat him up a bit more?' Reyna said.

'Why? He's pretty much dead already,' Hazel said, before going back to gagging.

'Well, because he's an A-hole, that's why,' Jason said.

'Nah, let's take him to a hospital, I've already beaten the hell out of him,' I said.

'Whatever you say,' Nico said, and called Will Solace, his boyfriend (Also, he's homosexual. Forgot to mention it).

Within 4 minutes, the ambulance came over. Will jumped out and saw Gabe's body, and immediately whooped.

'Yes! This is _awesome_!' he exclaimed, being every bit the excited little puppy he is. We helped him get Gabe onto the stretcher, and the ambulance sped off, leaving us to get in the cars and follow.

Hazel and Frank came in my car, while Jason, Reyna and Nico went in Jason's.

We reached the hospital moments after the ambulance, from where we followed the stretcher all the way to the Casualty, where they drew the curtains and left us to wait.

We waited for quite some time, during which time I called Mom to let her know what happened.

'What do you think will happen?' Jason asked just as the doctor came over.

'Well, he's stable, but he's hurt pretty bad. How'd he get hurt that badly? Did he get into a fight?'

'Kind of. I'm the one who hit him,' I said, flinching a bit.

'Sir, why?' he asked, obviously confused.

'Because, that man in there hits his mother,' Nico said.

'Sir, you're supposed to file a case for that, not hit him,' the doctor said.

'Yeah, well, kinda got caught up in the moment,' I said.

Mom came right that moment. He said he'd need to see if Gabe really did hit her. When he got enough evidence, he filed a case with the police.

Gabe regained consciousness after around three hours, at which time the police notified him about the case.

After his head injury was more or less treated and covered, he was taken to the police station, where he asked for a lawyer.

The lawyer who came was a skinny guy, who had blonde hair. He wore a suit, as most lawyers did.

He came up to us and asked, 'Are you the people I'm up against?'

'You here for Gabe?' Jason asked, and the lawyer nodded.

'Well, in that case, yes, I'm who you're up against,' I said.

'Ah, always a pleasure to meet the enemy,' he said, his sarcastic smile so teasing.

'You don't have a chance,' Frank said, 'There's too much evidence.'

'Well, I'm a lawyer, aren't I? I'm smooth with my words,' he said, stretching his hand out and saying, 'I'm Octavian. And you are?'

I took his hand, returning an equally sarcastic smile. 'Percy Jackson.'

He smirked and entered the interrogation room.

Frank came up to me. 'Where's Sally?' he asked, and I said, 'I told her to go home. Get some sleep.' Frank nodded.

Ten minutes later, the door opened, and out came Octavian, followed by Gabe. Gabe sent me an angry look, which I returned.

Octavian turned to us. 'Well, we'll meet at the hearing on third of January, Percy,' he said, contempt in his voice, before turning and taking.

'That's a week away,' Reyna said.

'Yeah, we need a lawyer,' Nico said.

'Is Bianca available?' I asked Nico, who shook his head no.

'She's too busy with her "Hunters Of Artemis" stuff,' he said.

'Well, anyone you guys know?'

Jason raised his hand.

'Dude, you can talk, you don't have to raise your hand,' Frank said.

'Yeah, well, my ex from college is a lawyer,' Jason said.

I smiled. 'That's great! Can you call her tomorrow?'

'Sure.'

We parted ways after that. I dropped Hazel and Frank off at their homes.

Hazel lived with Nico and Bianca di Angelo. Bianca was a successful lawyer, who I had a little… history with. Bianca was pretty successful, and managed to provide for Nico, Hazel and herself.

I saw Bianca as we dropped Hazel. She smiled when she saw me, and I waved back. We didn't really talk much nowadays, but our relationship wasn't messy. She was just too busy.

We left to drop Frank off, and we argued over which one is better – "The Lion King" or "Beauty and the Beast". I voted "The Lion King".

I won, and I stopped in front of Frank's house.

'Aren't you coming in for a sandwich, Percy?' Emily Zhang - Frank's mom – asked.

'Nah, I'll eat from home, Mrs. Zhang,' I replied. I waved goodbye at Frank, then drove home.

I reached home and got to the top of the apartment, the wind ripping at my coat, making it fly in the wind. I got up on the ledge, as I always did, and spread my hands.

The feeling I felt was hard to describe, but I'll try. Imagine just being completely fed up with life, coming home, locking the doors, and just going into a corner where you feel safe, and happy. That's somewhat how it felt up there.

After a while, I got down and went down into the apartment, where I went into my Mom's room, and found her sleeping in the horrible bed she and Gabe used to share.

'Mom,' I said, waking her. She blinked her eyes, then saw me, and smiled.

'Ah, you're here. Let me just get your dinner…' she said, getting up, but I stopped her.

'No, that's okay.'

'Okay,' she said before drifting off to sleep, but I stopped her from sleeping and said, 'You know what? Screw this bed. It has Gabe all over it. Come on, let's go to my room.'

She didn't even protest. She got up and came over into the room, where she got into the bed, pulled the covers, and immediately dozed off.

I went into the living room, where I sprayed a little fragrance before lying down on the couch, the day's events swirling through my mind. So much had happened in 5 hours.

Soon enough, I let sleep engulf me, and dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

The next day, we met Piper McLean.

Jason called me at noon and let me know that Piper wanted to meet. We had arranged to meet her with Jason at Le Parker Meridien at 5:00 pm.

I picked Jason up at 4:45, taking our time to get to the restaurant.

We reached there just a minute or two before Piper did. Seeing Jason, she smiled and gave him a hug, which he returned. She then said hello to me and we shook hands.

'So, what's the case?' she asked once we sat down.

'Well, my step-father for ten years, Gabe, used to hit my mom,' I told her, and her surprised and angry face reassured the fact that she would help us.

'Oh, my God, that's terrible! Alright, I'm in. What else happened?'

'Well, yesterday, when he taunted me, I just kinda snapped, and beat him up. We got evidence that he hit her, but this one slimeball lawyer managed to get him a hearing six days later. So, here we are,' I finished.

'Okay. Nothing else?' she asked.

'Nope,' I replied, just as our sandwiches arrived.

'Do you have tacos?' she asked the waitress, who replied yes.

'Can you get me a take-away of two of them?' she asked. The waitress nodded, and went away.

'Who are you getting them for?' Jason asked Piper, his mouth filled with a mixture of sandwich and salivary amylase.

'Haven't changed your eating habits, I see,' she said, 'And as for your question, it's for my roommate and boyfriend. He loves tacos.'

'Ah. What's his name?' Jason asked.

Piper smiled. 'Leo Valdez.' Jason dropped his sandwich onto the plate.

'No. Way,' he managed. She smiled, replying, 'Yes way,' just as the waitress came back with her take-away.

'I'm coming with you. I've _got_ to meet Leo. You coming?' he asked, to which I replied, 'Nah, you guys go ahead.'

They got up, and I signaled the waitress to get the bill. Piper, seeing the waitress coming, put a twenty dollar bill on the table and told me, 'For my tacos and sandwich. No cheating.'

She smiled, and I smiled back, after which she and Jason left. I told her to separate the bill, and paid off Piper's tacos and sandwich, then paid for the sandwiches for me and Jason, then left.

I got into the car, and sat there for a while, listening to the radio, before driving home.

'Mom, I'm home,' I said as I walked into the house. She came out of the kitchen, smiling, and I said, 'Hey, wanna go for a movie?'

She seemed unsure for a moment, saying, 'But dinner…'

'We'll eat outside,' I said, and she finally gave in.

I wanted to watch "Captain America: Civil War", but she insisted that we watch "Finding Dory", considering the fact that I loved "Finding Nemo".

Eventually, I agreed and we bought our tickets, got the popcorn, and entered the cinema hall.

I didn't like it as much as the original. In fact, the climax was like a copy of the one in "Finding Nemo". How: Lost person gets reunited with parent(s), and then has to go save a bunch of other fish with a cool sidekick you like more than the main character.

I kept telling Mom that it wasn't good, but she kept smiling, saying, 'You still like it, don't you?'

You know that you can't lie to your mothers for long, right?

We had dinner, where nothing eventful happened. On the way, I stopped by the store and bought a mattress. Mom was confused, but everything became clear when we got home, where I took the mattress of the bed in her room, replaced it with the new one, then took the old one with the troubling and horrible memories downstairs to burn, which, to tell you the truth, I enjoyed. As I watched it burn, I imagined Gabe standing in the fire, screaming, " _You little punk!_ "at me as he burned. I smiled, and burned my little figment of imagination with the best ever final dialogue, 'Screw you, jerk.'

I know, I know, I'm awesome.

The next few days were a complete blur. I and Mom had to meet Piper and the others every day. Piper told the two of us exactly what to say in front of the judge, just how to answer the questions she asked us, and to not be troubled or intimidated by Gabe's lawyer.

When the day finally came, Mom got hit with nerves.

'What if I say the wrong thing?' she kept worrying.

'You'll do fine, Ms. Jackson,' Frank reassured her. Apart from me, he was the only one with a mom, and the only other one who understood "mom things".

Finally, my dear old Sally Jackson managed to steel her nerves, and went into the courtroom.

The judge, a balding man with a potbelly and mustache who looked suspiciously like Horace Slughorn, came into the room first, followed by the jury.

We left Frank, Hazel, Jason and the others with the spectators, and went and sat on the table to the left. I sat beside Piper, and Mom sat on the extreme left.

Then, in came Octavian in his suit and smug smile, followed by Gabe, as ugly as ever. They sat on the table to the right, with no third person in view.

I leaned back in my chair, just far enough to see Gabe looking at us with the utmost loathing in his face. I glared right back, noticing the fact that his eye still hadn't completely healed, and was still swollen. That made me happy.

Then, the drama began. Mom was asked to step into the witness stand. Octavian stood up, and began to ask her questions.

'Are you Sally Jackson?'

For a moment, she stuttered, before calming down, and replying, 'Yes.'

He nodded. 'And you are married to Gabe Ugliano?'

Once again, she replied, 'Yes.'

Once more, he nodded. 'Your case, is that he has been abusing you?'

'Yes.'

'How long have you been married?'

'Ten years.'

'And when did he start showing aggression?'

'Nine years ago, when he lost his job.'

He nodded yet again, and I had to resist the urge to scream, " _Are you a bobble head?!_ ".

'Do you dislike him?'

'More than anything.'

'Explain what sorts of ill-treatments he performed.'

'He…' she said, and then her face became confused, as if she were wondering where her memories went.

Octavian smirked.

'That's all, Your Honor,' he said, and went back to his seat.

Then, Piper stood.

She went up to the Judge and gave him the evidence pictures of bruises and wounds.

She then proceeded to question my mom.

'Please, explain how the defendant ill-treated you.'

This time, Mom's face didn't go blank, and I secretly thanked God.

'He would hit me. In every situation. If he didn't like the food, he'd hit me at night. When I came home from work after refusing the double shift because I was too tired, he would hit me. If I refused to bring him alcohol, if I laughed or cried, if I comforted and spent time with my son, he would hit me. He would hit me.'

The room was silent for a while.

Piper said, 'That's all, Your Honor.'

Next, Gabe was called on to the witness stand.

Piper questioned him, 'You are Gabe Ugliano?'

He nodded, his expression never wavering from _pissed off_.

'You are married to Sally Jackson?'

He nodded once again.

'Did you abuse Sally Jackson?'

He remained silent. Piper moved forward. 'I asked you a question, _sir_ ,' she said, her voice trembling with anger (and probably from the stink he was emanating).

He moved forward towards her, but she didn't move.

'Why do you care if I beat the hell out of my dumb, stupid, ugly, wife?' he asked, and Piper visibly clenched her fists. Octavian slapped his head, probably wondering what he was thinking when he took this case.

'Because,' she said, gritting her teeth, 'I think you are a disgusting excuse for a man, a _human_ , or even a living being. I think you deserve to rot in jail. I think you deserve to be tortured to death. I care because you are hurting someone physically, scarring them mentally with no regard for the consequences. I care because she is a good person, and doesn't deserve your ill-treatment in the very least.'

We won it so easily that I thought I was dreaming. The bailiff took Gabe away. We were celebrating with the others when Octavian came over to me.

'I- I'm sorry. I made a mistake,' he said, his face full of regret.

I smiled. 'It's okay.'

He nodded. 'I think I'll take off now. Goodbye, Jackson,' he said as he left the courtroom.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to find Piper smiling at me. I smiled back, and hugged her. She seemed pretty stunned, but returned the hug, realizing it as friendly. We separated, and I said, 'Thank you. Thank you so much.'

'Don't mention it,' she said.

Just then, my phone rang.

'Uh, gimme one second,' I said as I stepped aside and answered the call. It was from the guy who owned the apartment.

'Hello?'

' _Yes, this is Mr. Jackson?_ '

'Uh, yeah.'

' _I'm calling to notify that you're behind on your rent by three months. I warned you about this before, but didn't take any action. Now, I will. One of you has to move out._ '

Then the line went dead.

I relayed my problem to the others.

Mom, being the amazing person that she is, offered to move out, but I told her that no way would she do that unless we had a proper place to go to.

That's when Piper came in. 'Uh, my friend's boyfriend just moved out, and she's looking for a roommate, so… maybe I could ask her.'

I thought about it. 'Yeah. Yeah, okay. You have my number, right?'

'Yup,' she replied, 'I'll call when the deal is done.'

I went home, not even trying to argue with the landowner. I just went up to the roof. I stood there, looking out over the little bit of New York from there. I climbed on the ledge, as usual, and just enjoyed the view.

Later, I went downstairs, and packed my bags. I didn't get a call from Piper the whole day.

The next day, as I was eating my breakfast, I got a call from an unknown number.

I answered the phone.

'Hello?' I said into the phone.

' _Uh, hi. You're a…_ _friend_ _of Piper McLean's, right?_ ' said a feminine voice. I figured that maybe this was the friend she told me about, but I decided not to rush into things.

'Uh, yeah, I know her. What are you calling about?' I replied.

' _Oh, I'm the one Piper mentioned. You know, about the room._ ' Yep, confirmation.

'Oh, right! Um, what's your name?' I asked, and I signaled to Mom to get me some water.

' _I'm Annabeth Chase,_ ' she said. I dropped my phone. My mom asked, 'Honey? You okay?' I nodded, not really listening. Could it really be her? Only one way to find out.

I picked up the phone and kept it to my lips, saying, 'Annabeth?'

' _Uh, yeah?_ ' said her confused voice.

'Do you remember me?' I asked, not thinking logically for even a moment.

' _Uh, I'm not sure. What's your name?_ ' she asked, worry creeping into her voice. I was obviously creeping her out. But if this really was her…

I replied, 'My name's Percy Jackson.'

 **There. I hope you liked it! Read and review!**


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